Shadows of Duel Monsters
by YAXON
Summary: The sequel to SOLAS Society of Light Alternate Series . Spans from Jaden's senior year to his time as a Pro Duelist. I'm doing a Team theme this time, instead of a Society. First couple of chapters will be school-related naturally, not much Dueling.
1. A New Year

**This is the sequel to SOLAS. If you liked that, I'm not sure if you're going to like this one or not, it's a bit more OOCish than SOLAS. Anyways, enjoy, or at least try to…**

The bell rung throughout the entire Academy. Jaden was running to the school as quickly as possible, he had overslept as usual and was running late for his first day of his senior year at Duel Academy. Jaden ran right through the doors at the front and ran through the hallways.

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late…"

When he got there, he was surprised to see that it was not in fact Crowler teaching the class; instead it was a new one. The new teacher addressed Jaden.

"Ah, Mr. Yuki, Chancellor Sheppard warned me about you, saying you were a good duelist, but had trouble getting to class on time. I hope you didn't _run through the halls..."_

Jaden looked nervous.

"Uh…"

"Just as I thought… Well, take a seat; I'll be expecting to see you after class… Anyway, before Mr. Yuki rudely interrupted me… I am Mr. Kincaid, your new Ra Yellow Headmaster. I will be sharing this classroom with Dr. Crowler, the Obelisk Blue Boys' Headmaster. I shall be teaching you about the science behind dueling. What's so scientific about dueling? More than you think… Now, there are 2 rules that I expect ALL of you to keep while you are here at Duel Academy:

_NO RUNNING IN THE HALLWAYS!_

Do not cast suspicion on others without proof.

I expect you ALL to be able to follow these rules and uphold them. Have I made myself CLEAR yet Mr. Yuki?"

Jaden nodded nervously.

_This guy's got a few screws loose… I think I like Crowler better… Woops! That's scary… Actually wanting to stay in the same classroom with CROWLER… Ugh…_

"Mr. Yuki. Would you like a DETENTION?"

"N-No, sir…"

"Then would you kindly repeat to me what I just said?"

"Uh… what I just said?"

"Mr. Yuki…"

"Have I made myself CLEAR yet Mr. Yuki?"

"No, I said that 2 minutes ago… What did I say a MINUTE ago…?"

"Uh… Uh… Uh…"

"Your lack of focus is OBVIOUS Mr. Yuki."

"S-s-sorry!"

"Come see me after class Mr. Yuki…"

"Y-yessir Mr. Kincaid!"

After that, Mr. Kincaid delivered his first lecture of the year…

After Class, Jaden went to see Mr. Kincaid as he was instructed. Syrus and Hassleberry were outside the door trying to listen, but couldn't really make out all of Mr. Kincaid's angry yelling. After about half an hour of nonstop yelling, Jaden finally came out wide-eyed. Syrus tried to comfort Jaden.

"Jay? You okay?"

Jaden didn't seem to hear him as he walked past Syrus. Syrus had to tap him on the shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, Sy, when'd you get here? I had to listen to Mr. Kincaid's yelling NONSTOP! I can't seem to hear right now, I think he busted my eardrums, that guy's got a fine set of lungs, I'll give him that. My ears are STILL ringing… Well, see ya later, Sy, I gotta go sleep this off…"

Hassleberry shook his head.

"Poor guy, new teacher and he's already got his sights set on him."

"Forget about that, did you notice when he WASN'T yelling at Jaden? He seemed to heap a lot of praise on Bastion!"

"Well, of course! They're both in the same dorm!"

"No, I think it's just because Bastion's scientific, he was about the only one answering Mr. Kincaid's questions on this science-stuff."

"Well, he is that type of guy, Sy… Oh! Did you read the paper yet? They had a big article on Altru Inc.!"

"Altru? I've never heard of that company before…"

"Well, it's a company that's been around for awhile, but they've been famous for about 2 years now, they're talking about making their little building into a Tower!"

"So? What's the big deal? We hear about this kind of stuff all the time."

"Well, this company's trying to find a new dream-energy, instead of oil since it's harder to find these days."

"Well, that's cool, I guess. What's got you so interested?"

"The President of the company, of course! He's their youngest President, and he's the third one! His name's Blake Hall."

"So?"

"He just looks familiar, here, look…"

Hassleberry took out a the clip from the paper, it showed a man with black hair that was a little longer than usual, he had black sunglasses on, a purple shirt, a black coat over it, black pants and black shoes. Syrus looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, he does look familiar, but I can't put my finger on it either…"

Just then Bastion ran up.

"Greetings gents! Have either of you seen Jaden?"

Hassleberry nodded.

"Yeah, he went to take a nap after having Kincaid's yelling ring through his ears for about half an hour."

"Ooh, ouch. Anyways… Syrus? What are you looking at?"

"Oh, just Hassleberry's article on Altru Inc."

"Hm? Altru? I'm thinking of going to work there when I graduate! I wish to visit their labs!"

Hassleberry grimaced.

"Ack! You are a science nerd! Science and I just don't go together!"

Bastion laughed.

"Oh, alright, anyway, see you later; I have to go talk to Mr. Kincaid anyways…"

-That night…-

Syrus was worried about Bastion since he was in the Ra dorm with him. It was curphew and Bastion was nowhere to be found. So, Syrus ran out of the Ra dorm to go find Jaden at the Slifer Dorm.

"Jaden! Wake up!"

Jaden woke up groggily.

"Can't this wait till tomorrow Sy?"

"No! It can't! Bastion's gone missing!"

Jaden got up with a jolt and burst through his door. Jaden began running towards the school.

"Mr. Kincaid might be torturing him! C'mon Sy!"

Syrus sighed as he was being dragged.

"Jay…"

Jaden ran through the numerous halls of Duel Academy not being able to open any of the doors. At last he ran to the stairs and began to descend to the basement. When Jaden and Syrus got to the basement they saw the only room down there had a light on through a window that had a curtain hanging behind the glass. Jaden took 5 steps from the stairs and a loud squeak was made from the floorboard beneath him. That's when Kincaid quickly opened the door and looked alarmed.

"WHO'S THERE?!"

Seeing Jaden and Syrus.

"This basement is off-limits to everyone but myself!!!"

Jaden and Syrus screamed and ran instantly back to their dorms.

Inside the room…

Bastion turned towards the open door.

"Is everything alright, sir?"

Mr. Kincaid silently came back into the room and silently closed the door.

"It-it was only a minor disturbance outside, a rat. Never mind that… Was that test a complete success?"

"Hard to say, the final adjustments still need to be made…"

"Bastion, I'm counting on you to succeed… That being said, insufficient sleep should be avoided, we'll call it a night for now."

"Alright, I'll return to my dorm then… Good night, Mr. Kincaid!"

Bastion said cheerfully…

**Well, that's the end of chapter one, no duels in this chapter, just characters being introduced and a plot beginning to unfold. Anyways, review!**


	2. Altru Arrives

**Time for another update folks. Hope to have some dueling this time. **

"Attention students, please report to the Duel Field, thank you."

Jaden, Syrus, and Hassleberry were running to the Duel Field right away. Chazz was one of the first few there only to see a man all dressed in black up on the stage/Arena. The man turned to Chancellor Sheppard who was up on the stage as well.

"Are you sure Mr. Misawa will be joining us?"

Sheppard nodded.

"Of course. He isn't sick or anything."

Chazz muttered something inaudible as he took a seat.

"He looks familiar for some reason…"

As Bastion entered the room he was shocked.

"Great Scott! That's Mr. Hall! President of Altru!"

Bastion then took a seat besides Jaden who arrived right before him. As soon as everyone was there, Chancellor Sheppard began to speak.

"Er-hem! Thank you everyone for coming, and now I present to you the President of Altru, President Blake Hall! He has graciously given us his valuable time to come and talk to us about Altru."

"Thank you, Sheppard. Now… May I have all the wonderful duelists here who want to come and work for Altru after they graduate stand up, please?"

Along with Bastion, about a quarter of the student body stood up. Blake smiled.

"Wonderful! I'm flattered that so many young and eager students want to come and work for my humble company!"

Blake turned to Chancellor Sheppard.

"May I?"

Chancellor Sheppard looked at him strangely.

"What? Now?"

"Yes, now. The company needs help NOW."  
"Oh, well… Um… I'm sorry, Mr. Hall, but I'd rather they finish their education before they go out into the world and-"  
"Sheppard… I'm willing to bargain you for these… precious students of yours."  
"I don't accept bribes, Mr. Hall. I will not let you-"

"I shall duel you for them, then. My company is plummeting, Sheppard, I will do anything to have these students NOW."

"If you beat one of my finest students, I will let you take as many students as you need."

"Oh? And which one of these sn-precious students from above will you be having me duel, hm?"

The students had been watching the two grown men whisper angrily at each other for a long time now. Even Crowler was curious as to what they were whispering about. Finally they stopped.

"Mr. Yuki? May I have you come and duel Mr. Hall right now?"

Jaden jumped up eagerly.

"Sure! I've been hankering for a duel for ages!"

Blake turned to the Slifer.

"Very well, Sheppard… I accept this pu-student's challenge."

-DUEL!-

Blake: 4000

Jaden: 4000

"Why don't you start then, Mr. Yuki?"

"My pleasure! I draw! I'm going to summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode for now. Then I'm going to throw down a face down and end my turn."

"Alright, if that's how you wish to play it… I draw and activate Change of Heart on your Clayman. I sacrifice it for one of my favorite monsters, Jinzo. Jinzo, attack Mr. Yuki."

Jaden: 1600

Blake: 4000

"Your turn, Mr. Yuki. Remember, my Jinzo negates all traps."

"I know, I know… I draw! Sweet! I'm going to activate Polymerization on Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix to form the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! Now I activate Skyscraper! Attack Flame Wingman!"

3100-2400

Blake: 3300

Jaden: 1600

"And now comes my favorite part!"

Blake: 900

Jaden: 1600

"Your turn!"

"About time… Mr. Yuki, I believe it is time I end this little charade… You played well, you got me to 900. But now I shall win. I activate Monster Reborn on Jinzo… Then I summon Vorse Raider… Jinzo, annihilate Flame Wingman…"

2400-2100

Jaden: 1300

Blake: 900

"I win, Mr. Yuki. Attack Vorse Raider."

"Go Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! Now I'll get my Winged Kuriboh out in defense mode, pal!"

"You're delaying the inevitable. I activate Mystery Card and end my turn."

Jaden: 1300

Blake: 900

"What's that Mystery Card supposed to do? And no I'm not, Mr. Hall, sir! I'll win!"

"With what? You've only got the next card on the top of your deck, and a Skyscraper. My Jinzo negates your trap cards, and I have superior numbers in monsters. As for my Mystery Card… Fufufu… You'll see soon enough."

"You'll see… I draw! I activate Pot of Greed! Now I draw two cards and now I activate Fusion Revival! What does this card do?"

"It lets you get one Fusion monster from your graveyard if you pay 1000 life points and destroy a spell card on your side of the field."

"That's right! Like my Flame Wingman for instance! He wants to come back and join the party! Now I'll attack your Vorse Raider and end this duel once and for all!"

"Funny, did I say you could talk? No. Remember my Mystery Card? I think I'm putting that into effect as of… now. By sacrificing one monster on my side of the field, I choose Jinzo, I can make my Mystery Card become any card that I want it to be, whether it be a trap, spell, or monster card. What do I get? Magical Cylinder. I can activate it now and end this duel once and for all."

"Nooo!"

Jaden: 0

Blake: 900

Chancellor Sheppard was shocked.

"No… Jaden… Mr. Hall…"

"Mr. Sheppard… I want those students to come with me effective immediately. You remember the terms."

"Alright… All students that wanted to work for Altru… go. Follow Mr. Hall."

Mr. Hall began to walk out but before that yelled out.

"Wheeler!"

A green haired man came running up to him.

"Yes, Mr. Hall sir?"  
"Make sure Mr. Misawa is among the group, Sheppard better not go back on his word…"

Bastion said good bye to Syrus and then followed the rest of the students who wanted to go work for Altru. Chazz was enraged with Jaden.

"Jaden was supposed to only lose to ME! I'll beat Hall later...."

Hassleberry watched Wheeler, who was a midget, walk out with Bastion.

"Who gives Hall a right to come and steal all of those students?"

Chancellor Sheppard shook his head sadly.

"I did… I thought that Jaden would win for sure, I had no idea that Mr. Hall had mastered dueling all that well, I heard he had begun to duel only a week ago. So I thought he'd be a beginner like many others, but he's not…"

Chazz glared at Chancellor Sheppard.

"NEVER underestimate ANYONE! Whether they be beginners or Aces!"

Sheppard shook his head.

"The only student he TRULY wanted was Bastion, I haven't the faintest idea why…"

Crowler walked up to the group.

"Has anyone seen Mr. Kincaid anywhere? He came in when Mr. Hall was here, but now he's gone."

"Good grief, Mr. Hall probably had him working here for the company. Mr. Kincaid was doing 'extra-curricular activities' with Bastion, Mr. Kincaid must've informed Mr. Hall about Bastion, and… the rest is history."

Jaden replied.

"What was Bastion doing?"

"Developing some sort of software, I think. Not really sure. I never got the full details from Kincaid, he wasn't really forthcoming with information."

Alexis shook her head.

"Why does Altru need so many employees anyway?"

"They're coming up with a new dream-energy, and they need more employees. That's all that Mr. Hall told me. And he specifically requested for Bastion."

-At the Pier…-

Mr. Hall and Wheeler watched as all the students got on the ship. Mr. Kincaid was with them.

"Well, boss? Think that Mr. Misawa will be able to do it?"

"He seems to be a genius that comes along once a century… If that. I'm sure he is quite capable. And all these duelists will be wonderful grunts. Wheeler, did you supply them with their new 'duel disks' and 'decks'?"

"Yessir Mr. Hall sir!"

"Good. Bastion is a genius alright to come up with that machine… It was absolutely wonderful to duel Jaden with it, it worked quite well. I'd been searching for Mystery Card for years and never found it. But thanks to that device, which I am now calling Miniremo, I had been able to just 'create' one. No one can tell the difference, they're similar down to the last pixel."

Mr. Kincaid nodded.

"Bastion was quite pleased with it, and he's still clueless as to what we'll be using these Miniremoes for."

"Mr. Misawa need not know the intentions behind this, all he needs to do is create my Incredible Machine. Once the completion of the Incredible Machine is done, we can trash the Miniremoes, and we will have a 'better world'."

Blake said grinning. Wheeler walked on board followed by Kincaid and Mr. Hall…

**I might've given away a lot, but there's still a lot to know. Ah well… Review if possible. **

**w update folks. H**


	3. Axel VS Ice

**Introducing something irregular here, at least for Yu-gi-oh. You'll see what I mean in a minute, just keep on reading…**

The School bell rang; class was over again on another boring day in May. It had been about seven months since Bastion and several other students had been taken to Altru. Many students were saddened to see their fellow students go, that included Jaden and his pals. The Halls of Duel Academy were nearly empty by the time Hassleberry and Syrus were walking through them. Syrus was still down about Bastion leaving, so Hassleberry tried to cheer him up.

"Hey, Sy, you got any ideas about where you're going after graduation?"

"Not Altru…"

"'Course not. You're going to the Union right?"

"Union? What Union?"

"I'm talkin' about the Duelist Union! The Union HQ's been up for about a month now!"

"What for? What's this 'Union' trying to accomplish?"

"Basically it's… Well… Uh… They're supposedly about protecting the environment and all that other tree huggin' stuff…"

"How exactly do you do that through dueling? Some people who damage the environment don't even know how to duel!"

"Well, yeah, but… Uh. . . . . ."

"See? Exactly my point, in my opinion, this Union's silly."

"Oh, yeah! The Union's not only about duelin'!"

Syrus smacked his forehead.

"So in a sense, this isn't even a Duelist Union in its own right!"

"No, no, no! I don't mean like that, they got all this rank stuff. Ya know, like Rank 1 is the worst Rank?"

"So?"

"The worst Rank people get assigned random stuff to help out the city, and the surrounding areas. Like putting out fires for instance. The higher you go up, the more dueling you get to do."

"That makes it even sillier."

"No! C'mon Sy! You gotta look at the bigger picture here!"

"There's no bigger picture here! Who even though up this stupid idea?"

"The supposed King of Games himself."

". . . You've got to be kidding me…"

"Nope, it's true."

". . . Okkk…"

"Jaden'll be joining, he told me so!"

"Stop lying, Jaden said he wanted to be a PRO duelist."

"There's no better way to challenge the King of Games."

". . . Did you or Jaden think this up?"

"It was Jaden's idea inspired by Chazz."

". . . Chazz is joining too?"

"Uh-huh, so'm I, I heard Alexis is too."

". . . This is just stupid… I won't be joining; I'm going to the Pro Leagues like I originally planned."

"C'mon Sy! We'll get Zane to join too-"

"NO!"

-In front of Altru…-

Axel was standing at the front of the building looking up. The Altru Tower was almost completed he could tell. Just seven months earlier, the crews hadn't even begun to work on the planned Tower, not until the President returned anyway. He had been away for a short while, rumors said that he paid a visit to Duel Academy, and Axel believed them seeing Bastion in a lab coat running in and out of the Altru Building for seven months straight. What piqued Axel's interest the most was a man in a blue jacket walking around the building nine times, three times per day. The man was all dressed in blue, even his hair was blue. Axel had heard the man's name once or twice before just by pure luck, it was Ice. Axel knew Ice was a duelist because of his Duel Disk, what Axel wanted to know was what did Ice have to do with Altru? Well, Axel made it a point to confront Ice today. When he saw the blue man come out, he immediately ran up to him.

"Hey, Ice! I need to talk with you!"

Ice turned to Axel.

"Eh? What'll it be, stranger?"  
"Beg your pardon?"

"Who do you want to talk to? Ice, the top Executive of Altru? Or Ice, the scourge of Duels?"

"Oh, so you're a good duelist then?"

"I'd hope so! My Ice type deck will freeze everyone in their tracks! Hehe… By the way… I've seen you frolicking around observing me… What was your name again? … I believe it was Axel-noob? What? There's no 'noob' at the end? Hehe… Sorry, chill. I know you're a Pro duelist in your own right, I've watched a couple of your duels; I think I can take on your Lava Deck. Wanna duel to see if I'm right?"

"Heh, I like your style, Ice, you get right to the point. Let's duel!"

-DUEL!-

"Chill out! I'll go first! I activate my Frozen Fortress Field Spell Card. Now my valuable Ice-type Monsters get a cool 600 Attack Point boost. Now I summon Ice Mage in attack mode!"

(1400/2100) With Frozen Fortress (2000/2100)

"Hehe… I'll end my turn, Axel-noob."

"… I draw. I summon Volcanic Knight. I'm gonna apply my Magma Blade Spell Card which gives him an 800 Point boost."

(2800/2000)

"Attack his Ice Mage."

Ice: 3200

Axel: 3200

"When Ice Mage is sent to the grave, you suffer the same amount of damage as I did."

"Don't worry about that, I'm gonna activate Meteor of Destruction which inflicts a 1000 Points of damage to you."

Ice: 2200

Axel: 3200

"I'll end my turn, Ice."

"Alright, Axel-noob, this is what sets me above the rest. Chill, alright? I remove my Ice Mage from my grave and two other Ice Mages from my hand to summon my all-powerful Ice Prince."

(3000/2500) with Frozen Fortress (3600/2500)

"Alright, this here's the tricky part, Axel-noob. My Ice Prince's special ability allows it to attack twice, but only if he's the only card I have. So… I set one face down, and then play Heavy Storm. Now comes the fun part. My face down card was Frozen Potential; it cancels out your monster's special ability. I know it comes back from the grave if I were to destroy it, so I canceled that ability for this turn only. You lose, Axel-noob."

3000-2000

Axel: 2200

Ice: 2200

"Attack again with your Frozen Blade!"

Axel: 0

Ice: 2200

"Hehe… Chill, Axel-noob, that duel was only just for fun. I like fun. So I'm not going to freeze you like I do most others."

"H-How can you do something so inhumane?!"

"Hehe… Chill, alright? I'm a Pacifist, it's just the way I am. Now get off the premises before I have security throw you in jail."

Axel ran away, as soon as he was far enough away, a girl all dressed in red ran over.

"Oooh… Slacker! I had to do YOUR duties, Ice!"

"Hehe… Sorry, Lavana, chill. I just had some fun with the Miniremo."

"You REALLY burn me up sometimes, you know that?!"

"Chill already, let's go see how the tower's comin' along, I'm bored again already."

And the two walked into the Altru Building…

TBC

**Done, review if possible!**


	4. True Power

**So sorry this update took so long! At first, I just had writer's block. Then I just lost interest in Yu-gi-oh for a while. Weird, I know, but I always find my way back somehow. Don't ask me why, this sort of thing just… happens. Anyway, after two years of hiatus, I think it's high time I reboot this fic. Sure, I might've forgotten my initial plot, but my writing's gotten better. I hope. Anyway, sorry for the long AN, now it's time for the show.**

Chazz's senior year at Duel Academy wasn't exactly an eventful one. Well, no one else's senior year was so eventful either, but that's beside the point. In a month, in June, Chazz and his friends would graduate.

Now, Chazz had been itching for a duel with Jaden ever since their senior year kicked off. However, Jaden had been unwilling because he had wanted Chazz to be his opponent in the Graduation Match. Though, to be honest, with his grades, there was no way that Jaden was going to be the class valedictorian. Jaden's arrogance bugged Chazz. He wanted to crush that Slifer Slacker once and for all.

Enter Souta Sarushiro, an exchange student and a senior from North Academy. Souta promised Chazz that he would help train Chazz to beat Jaden. So all year long, Chazz had been dueling Souta constantly. Souta's deck was pretty lame to Chazz, especially since Souta was an Obelisk Blue. It was a deck filled with lots and lots of animals. Souta's favorite monster was Money the Monkey, an incredibly weak card with zero attack points and only five hundred defense points. It had no special ability, either.

Souta Sarushiro wore a special Obelisk Blue coat that didn't zip up; it just slipped on like a sweat shirt. Souta's hair was dark red, and it was extremely long. That's why Souta tended to tie his hair up and have two 'antennas.' Chazz thought that this was weird, naturally.

Souta's personality was very much like the little Belowski's, which meant he seemed laid back often, even in class when taking a test. He would always have his hands in his pockets and smile that lazy smile of his. He didn't really care for seriousness, or so it seemed, and often joked good naturedly. It was hard to stay mad at him when and if he made a bad joke unintentionally. This won him friendship with pretty much everyone in the school, even among the Slifers and Ras, who didn't genuinely care for the arrogance of a lot of the other Obelisks. Chazz and Souta remained pretty close, even though they lived in separate dorms. Chazz wouldn't admit it, but he looked forward to hanging out with Souta, even if he was a pretty terrible duelist.

And that brings us to the present. Chazz and Souta were getting ready to throw down yet again in a clearing in the thick forest that surrounded Duel Academy at night as they shuffled their respective decks and inserted them into their respective duel disks. Souta had his eyes closed as he faced Chazz and let his duel disk activate. Naturally, he had that all too familiar lazy grin plastered on his face.

"You know, Chazz… You asked me once why I was in Obelisk Blue even though I have weak cards. Well, to be honest…"

Chazz stopped him before he could continue.

"Look, Souta… I know that it's pretty much because of your grades. I mean, you're right at the top next to Alexis. You'll be competing for class valedictorian for Pete's sake!"

Souta just grinned lazily and didn't say anything.

"…"

Chazz smirked and drew his sixth card after having drawn five.

"… But enough about grades! It's time to throw down again! I play Armed Dragon Lv 3 in attack mode!

(1200/900)

"And I'll end my turn!"

Souta didn't look at his cards as he drew his sixth card. He proudly showed his card at Chazz as he drew it, though.

"Hey look, Chazz! It's our old buddy, Money!"

Souta played the creature in attack mode. (0/500) Money barely went past Souta's knees in height and had a blue vest and fez on. He ran around Souta as Souta just grinned like he was the happiest guy in the world. Chazz pinched the bridge of his nose and grimaced.

"You ALWAYS play that thing. Don't you have anything new to play?"

Souta nodded and activated a field spell. Now Chazz and Souta were surrounded by lava, and the only land were the two tiny patches they were respectively standing on. Even the trees seemed to have faded.

"I play Forbidden Field!"

Souta grew quiet as he let Chazz admire the 'new' card.

"Since when did you get THIS? You NEVER buy new cards!"

Souta simply ignored him and went on with his turn.

". . . Next I play a spell card: Immortal Monkey!"

The next thing Chazz knew, Money was glowing with a gold light. And he seemed to grow in size, more than doubling it. Chazz took a step back as Money rivaled his height.

(1500/2000)

"W-W-WHAT IS GOING ON, SARUSHIRO?"

Souta only chuckled as Money attacked Chazz's Armed Dragon and destroyed it.

Chazz: 3700

Souta: 4000

Souta continued to speak and grin his lazy grin, not really answering Chazz's questions, or explaining how his 'new' cards worked.

"Oh, and when you take damage, Forbidden Field activates and you take 800 points of damage."

Chazz's eyes widened as a lava wave washed over him, scalding him.

"AAAHHH! What the heck?"

Chazz: 2900

Souta: 4000

Souta set one card face down. He sighed contentedly.

"… End turn."

Chazz growled.

"Sarushiro! WHAT do these new cards do?"

Chazz received no answer, however.

"…"

Chazz drew angrily.

"Alright, fine! I don't have to take this! I play Heavy Storm! And when this card is played, all spell and trap cards on the field go bye-bye!"

Souta didn't seem fazed, however, as his field spell and face down were destroyed. They were back in the forest clearing that they were in. Only then did Souta speak.

"… Oh well. When Cosmic Land is destroyed, I get a field spell card back from the grave."

Souta's grave glowed with a golden light, and Forbidden Field returned to Souta's hand. Chazz knew it was the face down that he had destroyed, so he didn't say anything. Souta put his hands in his pocket and smiled lazily. Chazz shook his head madly and pointed at the remaining spell card.

"W-Well… Why didn't Immortal Monkey go bye-bye?"

Souta merely shrugged, disinterested.

"… Instead of Money getting to become immortal, it's the spell, man. And every time that you attempt to destroy it with some spell or trap destroying card, you lose all your spell and trap cards on the field. Of course, you have none, so you're lucky. Naturally, Money gets a power boost because of Immortal Monkey, but that's beside the point. As long as Money's on the field, there's no way you can get rid of Immortal Monkey."

Chazz seemed unimpressed.

"Well, fine then! I play X-Head Cannon! Now make that primate extinct!

Money screamed a high pitched scream as he was blown away by the assault.

Chazz: 2900

Souta: 3700

Souta seemed equally unimpressed as he sent Money and Immortal Monkey to the grave. Chazz continued and set two cards face down.

"… I end my turn."

Souta, with his eyes still closed, raised one arm out of his pocket and drew speedily and smoothly. Without looking at the card, he set it in one of his spell or trap card zones. Souta continued grinning lazily as he played another card from his hand.

"I play Premature Burial! By paying 800 points, I can bring Money back to us! Come on back, my main man!

(0/500)

Chazz: 2900

Souta: 2900

"Then… I'll go ahead and play Money Addition. I know, it's more like multiplication, but this lets me grab the other two Moneys from my deck and place them on the field. And finally, I play Forbidden Field again. Your move, Chazz!"

Chazz glared at Souta like he didn't recognize him at all.

"WHAT IS WITH YOU? Sure, I know you have three stinkin' Moneys in your deck, but NEVER have I seen any of these other cards before! Not even Premature Burial! Tell me what's going on!"

Souta didn't reply instantly. He continued lazily grinning, even while he did answer.

"… The year is nearly over, it's almost time for the main attraction. I need your help Chazz, and this is the only way to retrieve it.

Souta snapped his fingers and all three Moneys leaped up. Two landed on his shoulders, and the third was standing in front of Souta and seemed to be issuing orders. One Money took off the pins that were holding up parts of Souta's hair, and the other brushed Souta's long, flowing red hair. Then they saluted and leaped back onto the playing field. Souta opened his eyes and smirked, and it wasn't that lazy smirk.

"… Because you seem to want to take the fun out of all this, I'll just get to the point. This isn't any ordinary duel. And the cards I'm using are only used when I play for keeps. They're nothing new, and I've just been toying with you all year, observing you and your friends when you duel. It's not like I want to, either. You're all pathetic. But enough about that, I'm here to change all that. When I'm finished with you, you'll see where true power lies."

Chazz twitched and yelled at Souta, clearly rattled.

"Oh yeah? So then where does true power lie, genius?"

Souta chuckled darkly and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"… Go, and you'll find out."

Chazz growled yet again and drew vehemently.

_ Perfect…_

Chazz showed Souta the card and played it.

"I play Polymerization! And I fuse the X-Head Cannon on my field with the Y-Dragon Head and the Z-Metal Tank in my hand to create XYZ Dragon Cannon!

(2800/2600)

Chazz smirked, still holding up one card in his hand.

"… But just so that we understand each other… I play Butterfly Dagger Elma on my Cannon to increase its attack power by 300. Your Monkeys are toast! XYZ Dragon Cannon… ATTACK!"

Chazz chuckled evilly as his Cannon fired at the center Money. Souta only continued to smirk as the blast came ever closer. Then a cloud of smoke covered Souta and his side of the field. Chazz laughed triumphantly, not noticing that Forbidden Field was still in play. When the dust cleared, Souta was still there and still smirking. His face down card was gone along with all the Moneys.

"… Chazz. Do you have any clue as to what you have just triggered? Your demise. The card I played just as your futile attack reached me was Forbidden Sacrifice, which can only be played while Forbidden Field is in play. Here's how it works: All my monsters go 'Bye-bye'… and all damage that was supposed to go to me goes to you instead."

Chazz staggered backwards and fell over.

"WHAT! IMPOSSIBLE! Y-You can't!"

Souta sighed and closed his eyes again.

"… Chazz, I am giving you a choice here. You can stand by my side as I take this world by storm… Or you can just perish in the Shadows!"

Chazz's eyes widened as a dark circle surrounded him just then.

"WH-WHAT?"

Souta shook his head and stared at Chazz quite arrogantly.

"… I tried to show the world the Light, but now I realize the truth… Chazz. What do you choose? Through the power of the Shadows, they can give you power that you can only dream of! Stand by my side again, and we'll show the whole world where the true power lies! If you join me, your victory over Jaden is assured! And I promise you… You won't be disappointed!"

Chazz shook, closed his eyes, and screamed.

"Oh, alright! Go ahead! I DON'T CARE!"

Souta chuckled as the darkness swirled around Chazz as he screamed because of the Shadows that were now attaching to him and completely enveloping him.

"Wise choice! Don't worry, once your initiation is over with, you won't feel anymore pain! But your enemies will!

After a while, Chazz's scream went away. Once it did, the Forbidden Field went away, and Souta walked over to Chazz, who was on the ground unconscious. Chazz's clothes seemed… a little darker.

"Rise Chazz Princeton! And resume your studies at Duel Academy. When you graduate, continue your desired career. I will be in touch…"

Souta Sarushiro was enveloped in shadows. When the Shadows dissipated, he was gone. Chazz silently and slowly stood up. If you were to look into his eyes, you would see that they were purely black, completely devoid of the life that he had moments before.

"… Yes, Master… Darkness will rule supreme."

Chazz cackled as he made his way back to the Slifer Red Dorm…

Elsewhere, up high in the Altru Tower, Shadows appeared and Souta entered his office. He was enveloped once more and transformed into Altru's President Blake Hall.

"… Good. My little mole has been planted. The stage is set…"

**To Be Continued**


	5. Syrus VS Heath: New Threat!

**Because I'm behind, I'm dishing out another Chapter. Again, sorry for the delay.**

Syrus remained stubborn throughout the school year. He vowed never to go and join the Duelist Union. Sure, it may have had good motivations, but the Union just sounded like a stupid idea to him. That's why he was targeted, and a month before he graduated, no less.

Syrus made it a point to avoid Hassleberry at all costs since Hassleberry always pestered him about not joining the Union. That's why he always took a long forest route to get back to the Red Dorm. He was still a scaredy cat, but that didn't stop him from taking the forest route at night. Little did he know that he was being tailed.

Syrus heard someone or something dash past a bush and brush past it.

"H-Huh? Who's there? Sh-Show yourself! Hassleberry!"

A similar sound came from the direction of the Red Dorm, so Syrus whipped back around only to be greeted by a big muscular man kneeling on one knee with a fist to the ground. The man was all dressed in yellow, even to the point where his hair was yellow. The man raised his head and stared determinedly at Syrus. He laughed. His laugh was big, and his voice was deep.

"Ha…! This little shrimp has a bark! But… I am no, how you say, 'Hassleberry'! Me name is Heath! And I be the one that be crushing you, so let us duel, me and you!"

Heath stood up, which showed that he was more than twice the height of Syrus, and maybe three times as large. Heath activated his duel disk, which was appropriately yellow, and Syrus stepped back timidly.

"U-Uh… N-N-No thanks! I've gotta be getting back to my Dorm now!"

But when Syrus tried to run back to the Red Dorm, Heath stood in his path. Heath crossed his arms in front of his chest and smirked at Syrus.

"You no be going until me you duel!"

Syrus fell backwards and scooted back a safe distance from Heath.

"A-Alright… But when I win, you have to let me get back to my Dorm!"

Heath pointed his thumb at himself.

"And if me win… Well… You be seeing soon! DUEL! Me start!" Heath drew a sixth card from his deck and smirked. "First! Me summon Earth Soldier in attacking mode! Hahaha!

(1200/1000)

"Then… Me activate Earth Bang! When me activate this card, you be taking half of Earth Soldier's attacking points to your life points! It considered attacking!

Syrus screamed as he took the damage.

Syrus: 3400

Heath: 4000

"Finally! Me be setting one card facing down. Your move, shrimp!"

Syrus glared at Heath and drew.

"'Me' no shrimp! My move! I'll summon Drillroid and destroy your Earth Soldier!"

Syrus: 3400

Heath: 3600

Heath bellowed a laugh as he took out his deck and searched for two cards.

"That fine! But whenever Earth Soldier be destroyed, me summon two more Earth Soldiers to be taking his place! Hahaha!"

Two more Earth Soldiers were summoned to the field.

(1500/1000)

Syrus twitched and pointed at the Earth Soldiers.

"What the heck! How are they stronger?"

Heath burst out laughing again.

"Whenever Earth Soldier not being alone on field with one or more Earth type monsters, he get 300 more attacking points for each card! Hahaha! Now me be activating trap! Earth Surge! Now you my Soldiers be attacking directly, all damage!

Syrus blinked and screamed as he took 3000 damage.

Syrus: 400

Heath: 3600

Heath wagged his pointer finger.

' "But… Earth Surge come with price. Me no get battle phase next turn. Only main phase."

Syrus grimaced and glared at Heath.

"… Me get it! I'll go and set one card face down and end my turn!"

Heath burst out laughing as he drew another card.

"You pathetic, shrimp! This go fast. Me sacrifice two Earth Soldiers to be summoning Earth General! Hahaha!

(3300/3000)

"And whenever he being summoned, all cards on field but himself is being destroyed. But… for every card destroyed, me be taking 600 points of damage.

Heath closed his eyes and said nothing as he took damage.

Syrus: 400

Heath: 2400

Then Heath opened his eyes again and grinned wolfishly.

"No matter! Me activate Battle Field! This card good! For me, not you! Whenever Earth General and Battle Field in play, you not be using traps or spells! Monsters only!"

Syrus cringed at the card combo that was just played. What a plan, Heath was way good. Syrus drew another card and summoned Submarineroid.

"I summon Submarineroid! And he'll be attacking you directly, 'Sarge'!"

Heath shield his eyes with one arm from the oncoming dust cloud that surrounded him.

Syrus: 400

Heath: 1600

Syrus had Submarineroid turn to defense position.

"All right… Your move, Heath!"

Heath still had an arrogant stance as he drew his next card.

"Fine! Earth General! Wipe out the shrimp's defense!

Syrus cringed as Submarineroid was destroyed. Heath smirked and set one card face down.

"This almost over, shrimp! You no win! You only use monsters! You no can win with monsters only!"

Syrus twitched as he drew again.

"We'll see about that! You see, when you destroyed my face down earlier, you had no idea that it was Resurrection Redemption! With that card in my grave, by paying half of my life points, I can bring back my Submarineroid and attack you! Twice! This is all over for you!

Heath said nothing as Syrus pointed right at him.

"Submarineroid! Attack Heath directly and end this duel!"

Submarineroid shot two missiles at Heath, and then Heath and his side of the field were enveloped in a cloud of dust. Syrus smirked, thinking it was over. But when the dust cleared…

Syrus: 200

Heath: 100

Heath was the one smirking now. His face down card and Earth General were gone.

"Not bad move you being just played! But not good enough. Me activated Evasive Tactics at last second! Sacrificing Earth General leaves me at 100 life points no matter what! Me get one more turn to be using you as punching bag, shrimp! Hahaha!"

Syrus shook his head and set one card face down.

"Well… Alright. One more turn couldn't possibly hurt. Submarineroid! Get into your defensive position!"

Submarineroid got into its defense position, and Syrus ended his turn after placing one card face down. Heath drew, and he just laughed. Laughed hard. And loud. Then he stared at Syrus arrogantly.

"You play okay for shrimp, but you still shrimp. Me have combo that you no stand up from. When me beat you, you be seeing where true power lie! That whole point of duel! You see soon! Me play Coronation! With this card, me be removing all cards on graveyard, and all cards on me side of field, and me get to summon from me hand: The Earth King!"

(0/0)

Syrus rubbed the back of his head and laughed gently.

"You might want to get your eyes checked! That thing has no points! At all! I guess you did all that for nothing, genius!"

Heath shook his head and chuckled darkly.

"… When Earth King summoned, he gain power for each card removed from game. 500 points for each card. Me have seven cards removed from play, so he be having 3500 attack points. And guess what? When Earth King attack and destroy monster, you take damage equal to its defense points! You through!"

Syrus shook his head and revealed his face down.

"Not so fast! Go Compulsory Evacuation Device! Whenever this card is played, I can choose a monster and make it return to its owner's hand! So it is over! … For you."

Heath shook his head and wagged his pointer finger at Syrus. He snickered.

"Too bad for you! Trap cards no work on Earth King! He not can be targeted! So your card negated unless you send Submarineroid back to hand! Too late for you!"

Syrus gasped as his Submarineroid returned to his hand.

"… Shoot. Please don't!"

Heath pointed directly at Syrus.

"Earth King! Seismic Slam!"

The Earth King leaped into the air and landed on Syrus. Hard.

Syrus: 0

Heath: 100

Heath roared with laughter.

"Me told you! No escape from true power! Now true power make you see way!"

Syrus sat up and looked around himself. He was surrounded by a circle of Shadows. The Shadows enveloped him and he screamed. Heath only laughed as Syrus screamed into the night, not to be heard by anyone. When the shadows dissipated, and Syrus stopped screaming, Syrus was on the ground, unconscious. He was wearing a black uniform similar to his Ra Yellow Uniform. The stripes were in the same places, they were just white, and the rest of the costume was pure black. Syrus stood up and chuckled.

"… Thank you showing me the way, Heath… Now I must spread the Darkness…"

Syrus's voice was completely devoid of the life that it had once had only moments ago. His eyes were as lifeless as his voice. He sounded and almost moved like a zombie. Heath laughed, walked over and slapped Syrus on the back.

"No worries! Fun be starting soon! You go back to Dorm now. Friends ask you what happen, you ignore. They want you duel, you duel and crush. Understood?"

Syrus slowly nodded, and Heath laughed again. Syrus dragged himself back to the Red Dorm…

Meanwhile, Jaden was in the cafeteria with Chazz, Hassleberry, and Alexis. Chazz had been converted two nights ago, but he still seemed like the old Chazz, so no one questioned him as to why his clothes were a little darker than normal. Alexis stared at Syrus's empty spot at her and Jaden's table.

"Hey, Jay… Syrus hasn't come back yet… You think we should go looking for him? He could've gotten lost, or something could've happened."

Alexis was concerned. Jaden smiled.

"Nah, I'm sure Sy's fine. If something did happen, I'm sure that we would've heard his shrill scream, or someone would've come and informed us that something bad had happened. Sy seemed fine today."

Alexis sighed, not quite grasping Jaden's logic.

"If you say so, Jay… I still think that something's up…"

Hassleberry slammed his and Chazz's table, which startled and shook Chazz up. Chazz grumbled as Hassleberry backed Alexis up.

"Private Lexi's right! Something's wrong! I can feel it!"

Alexis closed her eyes and groaned.

"Maybe Jay's right… I could be over thinking things…"

That's when Syrus entered the Red Dorm, clad in his new black uniform.

"Hey, guys… Sorry I'm late… I had… business to take care of."

Everyone but Jaden stared at the little bluenette. Jaden was just eating noisily, as usual. Hassleberry was the first one to speak up.

"Private Truesdale! What's with the new emo look?"

Syrus ignored him and took his place at Jaden's and Alexis's table. Chazz stared at Syrus and smirked.

"… Huckleberry's right for once, slacker! Black is definitely not your color!"

Again, Syrus ignored his friends and silently ate. Alexis spoke up.

"Sy… is something wrong?"

Syrus looked up and stared right into Alexis's eyes. It was hard for her to miss the lifelessness that was in his eyes.

"… Nothing's wrong, Alexis. I've just… come to my senses, that's all. Soon, all of you will, too."

Only after that response did Jaden take an interest in his best friend.

"Sy! What's with the new get up? And why aren't you so cheerful now?"

Syrus shook his head and continued to eat. Hassleberry slammed his palm on his table again, which only made Chazz jump. Again. Chazz seethed at Hassleberry and got Hassleberry's head into a headlock.

"What's your problem, Bumbleberry?"

Hassleberry elbowed Chazz until he let go. Then Hassleberry yelled at Syrus.

"Soldier! I challenge you to a duel! If I win, you have to spill the beans! I'm tired of this silent treatment!"

Syrus finished eating and leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head. He yawned.

"… I'm not really up to dueling you right now. Why don't you ask me later, Dino Boy."

Hassleberry was ready to lunge at Syrus, but Chazz held him back, and Jaden was ready to be Hassleberry's next obstacle to get to Syrus should he break free from Chazz again. Alexis looked at Syrus, disappointed. Then she turned to Jaden before standing up.

"… Well, I better get going. See ya tomorrow, guys."

As she stood up, Jaden stopped her from leaving.

"Wait, 'Lex! You just got here!"

Alexis looked at Jaden and smiled.

"Yeah… I guess you're right… Mind coming with me, Jay?"

Jaden followed her out the door, and Hassleberry could hold his anger in no longer as he lunged at Syrus and tackled him. Syrus seemed less than amused as he tried to kick Hassleberry off of him, but he just couldn't.

"HASSLEBERRY GET OFF OF MEEE!"

Syrus yelled threateningly as Chazz ran out of the cafeteria before things got ugly…

Jaden was walking Alexis back to her Dorm.

"So what's up, 'Lex? Sorry about Syrus's sudden change in attitude…"

Alexis nodded and smiled.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault. I would like it if you could help snap him out of it. I'll help you if you need it, but I feel that because you know Sy better, you might have a better chance of returning Sy back to his old self."

Jaden nodded and smiled back at Alexis. He gave her a thumbs up.

"Sure thing! He'll be back to normal before you know it!"

Alexis continued to smile but then looked down, not being able to look at Jaden.

"… So… You plan on joining the Union after you graduate? What happened to becoming the next King of Games? I mean, joining the Union's noble, but…"

Jaden nodded understandingly and looked thoughtful.

"Well, to be honest, I'm just… I mean…" Jaden sighed and stopped walking. Alexis stopped right after he did. Jaden rubbed his chin. "… The King of Games himself asked me to, 'Lex. He said it was… uh… what's the word…"

Alexis grinned as Jaden tried to think of the word, but failed to think of it.

"… Vital?"

Jaden nodded and grinned at Alexis.

"That's the word! He said it was vital that I join the Union. Something about me needing to… to help out an old friend. Though I'm not sure what he means just yet.

Alexis blinked as Jaden smiled innocently at her. He had a good reason for joining.

"… What about you? What happened to staying here to be a research student?"

That question took Alexis off-guard. Alexis looked away and didn't reply immediately.

"W-Well… I… Uh… The motives for the Union are noble! And… I didn't want to fall behind my wonderful friends!"

Jaden blinked, not really realizing Alexis's real reason for joining.

"… Oh. That's cool! But you'd never fall behind us, 'Lex! You're a really great duelist!"

Jaden didn't see her blush at that comment because she was still looking away. Alexis half turned back to Jaden.

"W-Well… Thanks for taking the time to talk, Jay. It was… nice. I can make it on my own from here."

Jaden half bowed and gave her his trademark grin.

"Alright! See ya tomorrow, then!"

Jaden slapped her on the back happily and began to run back to the Red Dorm. Alexis, still blushing madly, watched him go and walked back to her Dorm by herself…

Elsewhere, Jesse was busy getting ready to duel Souta, who he thought had left for Duel Academy.

"Well, Souta… Get your game on, dude!"

Souta lazily smiled and shuffled his deck.

"…"

**To Be Continued**


	6. Update!

**Hi, guys! Big Update on everything...**

**Due to my family moving, I haven't had much time to write... And seeing as how my computer is being packed up tomorrow, I might as well 'Update' one last time before I can't (at least for a week), right? And I've been considering something, I've been mulling it over in my head for a while now...**

**While I have more Stories on my plate than I care to have, I do still want to write for this. I really do. Inspiration has been hitting like crazy lately, and I don't know why. All the same, I'm putting this one on hold for a while. Why? For starters, I'd like to get the plot clearly planned out. It's been so long that I've forgotten the original plot I had in mind. But that doesn't matter because I have a better plot in mind now... at least that's my hope. You guys will get to decide for yourselves after I start updating this one again...**

**In this fic's stead, though... I'll be doing major revisions on the SOLAS story that took place before this one. I have a feeling I can improve that one, just as long as I take it nice and slow. The Chapters will be lengthier, and some modifications will definitely be made to the 'original' plot to fit it into future chapters of this fic. I MAY revise the early chapters of this fic as well, just to make everything roughly the same length. **

**... When will you be hearing from me again? I don't know. I hope to get the first revised chapter of SOLAS up early July, but we'll have to see how the writing stages go. I'm NOT rushing this, too much inspiration is at stake here... Some questions you may have: Will Bastion be the '2nd in command in the Society of Light' again? ... Yes. Will Jaden be converted again? . . . I'll see what I can do. Jaden is the main protagonist in this show, and having him convert to being an antagonist may be difficult to write for, considering not too many people can 'beat' Jaden... But I thrive on challenges, so... I'll try. Will there be new characters? Probably. I have at least one new character in mind that I'm planning on either sticking in the new revised version of SOLAS or Shadows of Duel Monsters. Depends on when I feel like introducing him. The character I have in mind is... an antagonist, but he won't be someone you'd 'expect' to be bad. He'll come off as nice at first, but when he starts showing his true colors... watch out. He's... a bit of an oddball, to be honest. Perhaps a smidge of a nuisance. If I happen to introduce him in SOLAS, he might not have a terribly large role. My thoughts are: Introduce him in SOLAS, expand his role in Shadows of Duel Monsters, and, if I'm lucky enough to keep him around, will have him play a very important role in the future sequel to Shadows of Duel Monsters. Yes, I am planning on a sequel to this. For some reason I just can't get enough of generating trilogies... **

**Anyway... Apologies for the long, long wait... A LOT has been going on these past couple of months... I am overjoyed that it's summer and that I'll be writing again in the next couple of weeks... I've really, really missed writing... I hope to improve my writing even more as time passes.**

**~Yaxon **


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